Dear
Pioneers,
We are beginning to embark on an adventure!
We are going to load our wagons, kiss our
kin goodbye, and head for the Oregon Territory.
We will be joining the Westward Ho! Wagon
Train.
Through this simulation, we will be making
decisions that will affect our safe arrival in Oregon.
Step 1: Choose your family's identity.
Use the websites below to
choose the surname (last name) of your family.
After you have chosen your surname,
each person in your family must choose their name and develop an identity. Make
sure all your family agrees with who you are going to be. When your family is
in agreement develop your identity.
Write about your identity by
explaining your name, age, occupation, past experiences, family role,
appearance, personality traits, aspirations, hopes, and dreams. Be creative and
use historical facts in your identity as much as possible. We will add our
personas and photos to our trip journals.
Your teacher will provide
you with cards to draw for your occupations and ages. The person in your wagon
who is oldest will be the head of the household.
You will need to work
together to determine your relationship to one another: brother, sister, uncle,
aunt, father, mother. You will also select on additional family member to add
to your wagon from the cards provided by your teacher. You’ll need to give this
person an identity and age too.
Links:
Women's Identities of the Oregon Trail
Frontier Personalities
Step 2: Most pioneers had a guidebook to
take with them to point our landmarks and help with problems that might come
along. Your family will need to create a guidebook to take along on your
journey. Include information that
might help you. You may use books or the Internet to help find the information
you need. Below are some sites you may use to help with each page.
|
Food |
Oregon Trail Guidebook |
|
How
to Stay Healthy |
|
|
Illnesses |
|
|
How
to Prevent Boredom |
|
|
Oregon
Trail Map |
|
|
Landmarks
Along the Trail |
|
|
Indians |
|
|
Crossing
Rivers |
|
|
Tricks
of the Trail |
Step 3: Now it is time to decide on the
supplies your family will be taking. Look at the resources below to begin deciding
what you will need to take with you. Your family will have $300 per person to
spend during the whole journey. You will probably want to save some money for
unexpected expenses along the way. You will be keeping track of your expenses
using in your diary.and the spreadsheet provided by
your teacher.
Provisions
Step 4: Now that you are all prepared to go,
you need to tell who you are and why you are going on
this journey. Remember how
difficult it will be to leave your other family behind while you are going on a
dangerous journey that will last for about six months.
In your entry imagine you
are your character and what it was like to be leaving your friends and
relatives to emigrate to the Oregon Country.
What would you say to a
close friend about your journey?
How do you feel about the
journey ahead?
Why have you (or why has
your family) decided to go on this journey?
What do you expect to see on
the journey?
What challenges will you
face?
What will you say to your
friend when you know you may never meet again?
Make sure you write this in a friendly format.
This will be your persona and will be included at the
beginning of your journal.
Step 5: You are now beginning your trip on
the Oregon Trail.
Each day you will be faced
with decisions to make as a family.
Many of the decisions
require some research in order to have a good fate.
Use the websites below when
you get to the travel and fate card with the same number.
Some of the websites show
pictures of the location where you are on the trail.
Each week you will be
required to write at least one or two journal entries telling about the events
you have experienced on the trail.
You may also add in extra
information to make your journal more interesting.
Your grade will be based on
your creativity, accuracy of the details, and making your journal entries
interesting and believable.
(We will use a Pages Journal
Template to publish our final journals.)
Independence, Missouri: Independence
Travel and Fate #2: Cholera
Travel and Fate #3: River Crossing
Travel and Fate #6: Wakarusa River
Travel and Fate #8: Fremont #1, Carson #1
Travel and Fate #9: Old Time Remedies
Travel and Fate #10: Fort Kearny*
Travel and Fate #12: Gilman's Station
Travel and Fate #15: Nebraska, Courthouse Rock
Travel and Fate #18: Chimney Rock
Travel and Fate #19:: Scott’s Bluff
Travel and Fate #22: Fort
Laramie
Travel and Fate #23: Register Cliff
Between #23 and #27: Ayers Natural Bridge
Travel and Fate #27: Alkali
Travel and Fate #28: Saleratus Lake
Travel and Fate #29: Independence Rock*
Travel and Fate #30: Devil’s Gate
Travel and Fate #31: Ice Slough
Travel and Fate #32: South Pass, South Pass - 2*
Travel and Fate #33: Parting of the Ways
Travel and Fate #34: Fort Bridger
Travel and Fate #35: Sublette Cutoff
Travel and Fate #37: Geysers, Hot
Springs
Travel and Fate #38: Fort Hall
Travel and Fate #39: Massacre Rocks
Travel and Fate #40: Island
Crossing
Travel and Fate #40: Farewell Bend
Travel and Fate #41: Wagon Roads
Travel and Fate #42: Deadman’s Pass
Travel and Fate #43: Whitman's Mission
Barlow Road: Barlow Road
Columbia Gorge: Dalles
Willamette Valley: End of the Oregon Trail